88 rx7
 

Where to even begin, alright, I bought an 88 rx7 13B rotary on the weekend. Owner had a little trouble starting it, took it for a test drive and had no power, he told me the air adjust screw on the intake needed tuning as well as the car needs a tune up (filters, plugs, wires, etc.) I drove it home, but couldn't drive in 5th because it didn't have enough power to, I get it home, shut it off, and am able to get it started but barely. Took it down the road before I put it away for the night after letting it warm up of coarse. As I'm pulling back into my driveway it shuts off and couldn't get it started since. Iv replaced the plugs, (previous owner had the plugs all mixed up so I find out) (as well as the trailing wires backwards) so I fix all this, and still nothin, cranks over alright and tries but just not enough to fire it up... Iv got spark, iv got fuel but the leading plugs are always dry but the trailing are always soaked in a gas/oil mixture. No we did not put oil in the gas when we filled it up but I understand the rotary engine burn oil to lubricate the apex seals. The previous owner wired up a switch for the fuel pump & his instructions on getting it to start were; fuel pump switch on, crank it over for a few seconds while pumping the gas pedal and then repeat with the switch off. Iv done a compression test and have 60lbs on one rotar and around 70-75 on the other. Can someone pleassse help me out here, getting frustrated!

If it's an 88 then it most likely has a catalytic n it so it can pass emissions and that could be plugged up.
Another thing though is that your compression is LOW and you may be looking at a rebuild.

Assuming that he didn't completely rewire everything...

Normal starting:
1) Fuel pump switch on.
2) Do not touch the gas pedal.
3) Turn the ignition key to the Start position to start the engine.

If the normal starting procedure doesn't work, then the engine may be flooded. Here is a deflooding procedure:
1) Fuel pump switch off.
2) Turn the ignition key to the Start position to crank the engine for about 5 seconds.
3) Now try the normal starting procedure.


In stock form, the engine has an Oil Metering Pump (OMP) that automatically injects engine oil into the combustion chambers at the rate of about 1 qt every 3,000 miles. If the OMP has been disabled, then you need to add oil to the gas tank.

At 60psi compression the engine is effectively dead, so hopefully you did not perform the check correctly. Charge up your battery and perform the check as per this link:
Rotary Resurrection home of the budget rebuild.

You can adjust the readings for altitude and cranking rpm with this calculator:
Foxed.ca - Rotary Compression Calculator

Would this have anything to do with; when I'm trying to start it, it's only smoking out the rear left exhaust and nothing out of the right? It's an aftermarket exhaust but not true duals so should it not be smoking out both?